Titans Finish Fourth At WIAC Championship
UW-Oshkosh players earned fourth-place results in seven of the nine flights of competition to help the Titans finish fourth in the team standings at the WIAC Women's Tennis Championship (Presented by Culver's) held Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 21-22) at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.
UW-Oshkosh placed fourth at the championship with 34 points and fourth in the league's overall fall standings with 12. The overall ranking advances the Titans to the WIAC Team Tournament that will be held next April at UW-Whitewater. The winner of that event will earn the WIAC's automatic berth into the 2018 NCAA Division III Championship.
UW-Whitewater secured first place at the WIAC Championship and during the league's regular season dual meet competition to win the conference's overall title for the 11th consecutive year and 18th time in school history.
The Warhawks took first place at the championship with 60 points while UW-La Crosse finished second with 54, UW-Eau Claire third with 48, UW-Oshkosh fourth, UW-Stout fifth with 23, UW-Stevens Point sixth with 20 and UW-River Falls seventh with 13.
In dual matches, UW-Whitewater finished first with a 6-0 league record (7 points) while UW-Eau Claire placed second at 5-1 (6 points), UW-La Crosse third at 4-2 (5 points), UW-Oshkosh fourth at 3-3 (4 points), UW-Stout fifth at 2-4 (3 points), UW-Stevens Point sixth at 1-5 (2 points) and UW-River Falls seventh at 0-6 (1 point).
The overall conference champion was determined by using a combination of the league's regular season dual meet standings and the WIAC Championship finish. The regular season dual meet rankings accounted for one-third of the criteria while the conference championship accounted for the remaining two-thirds.
UW-Whitewater claimed the overall WIAC title with 21 points while UW-La Crosse placed second with 17, UW-Eau Claire third with 16, UW-Oshkosh fourth, UW-Stout fifth with nine, UW-Stevens Point sixth with six and UW-River Falls seventh with three.
UW-Whitewater, UW-La Crosse, UW-Eau Claire also advanced with UW-Oshkosh to next spring's WIAC Team Tournament. The Titans will play UW-Whitewater in their semifinal round match.
At this year's WIAC Championship, UW-Whitewater won four singles and a pair of doubles titles.
Earning fourth-place finishes for UW-Oshkosh during the singles competition were Bailey Sagen in the first flight, Alyssa Leffler in the second, Hannah Peters in the third, Samantha Koppa in the fourth and Lesley Kutnink in the fifth. All five players compiled a 1-2 record.
Sagen defeated Brittany Asfeld of UW-River Falls, 6-4, 6-1, in the first round before dropping a 6-2, 6-2 decision to eventual champion Bridget Bellissimo of UW-La Crosse. Sagen then lost a 6-3, 6-1 result to Natalie Wijesinghe of UW-Eau Claire in the third-place match.
Leffler outscored Erin Lemmer of UW-Stevens Point, 6-0, 6-0, in the opening round before losing a 6-0, 6-3 verdict to Hayley Clope of UW-La Crosse. Leffler then lost a 6-1, 6-2 decision to Sarah Henderson of UW-Eau Claire in the third-place contest.
Peters ousted Annie Sandry of UW-Stout, 6-1, 6-0, in the first round before losing a 6-0, 6-0 result to eventual champion Jillian Wallace of UW-Whitewater. Peters then dropped a 6-2, 6-3 outcome to Sadie Spahn of UW-La Crosse in the third-place match.
Koppa defeated Angelica Hernandez of UW-Stevens Point, 6-1, 6-0, in the opening round before suffering a 6-3, 6-1 loss to eventual champion Kendra Berry of UW-Eau Claire. Koppa then lost a 6-2, 6-1 result to Maura Andersen of UW-La Crosse in the third-place contest.
Kutnink bested Gabe Kelch of UW-Stout, 6-0, 6-3, in the first round before losing a 6-1, 6-2 result to eventual champion Paige Nieman of UW-Whitewater. Kutnink then lost a 6-2, 6-2 decision to Emily Cooper of UW-Stevens Point in the third-place match.
Kelley Hodyl took fifth place for the Titans at No. 6 singles with a 2-1 record.
In doubles play, the UW-Oshkosh tandems of Peters and Sagen and Leffler and Koppa finished fourth with 1-2 records in the first and second flights, respectively.
Peters and Sagen opened play with an 8-3 victory over Abbey Johnson and Emily Kleist from UW-Stevens Point. The UW-Oshkosh duo then lost an 8-1 decision to eventual champion Wallace and Bridgid McGuire from UW-Whitewater before losing an 8-1 result to Henderson and Wijesinghe from UW-Eau Claire in the third-place contest.
Koppa and Leffler began action with an 8-3 win over Lemmer and Kaylee Roberts from UW-Stevens Point. The UW-Oshkosh tandem then dropped an 8-4 result to eventual champion Clope and Alaina Bublitz from UW-La Crosse before losing an 8-3 decision to Cooper and Molly Stewart from UW-Eau Claire.
UW-Oshkosh's duo of Hodyl and Kutnink placed fifth at No. 3 doubles with a 2-1 record.